Each wild sturgeon is scanned, measured, tagged, and released if it has never been tagged previously.

“I believe this fish has identified this spot as a good food source and is returning for the salmon travelling up to the Canyon from the lower river,” Staiger noted. “They follow the food.”

The sturgeon was definitely one of the larger ones. This one measured 7.9 feet (240 cm) long and was at least 40 years old, Staiger said.

It was also remarkable in that it was not a canyon sturgeon since it did not have the typical shovel-shaped nose for digging food seen in the upriver population, although they have been recorded travelling hundreds of kilometres a year.